Open Travel Guide
Food tours in Argentina

Argentina Food Tours Guide 2026

Eating your way through Argentina: guided tours, hands-on classes, and self-guided routes that deliver.

This guide covers 6+ food tours and culinary experiences in Argentina — Buenos Aires Parrilla and Wine Walk, San Telmo Market Food Experience and Buenos Aires Street Food Night Tour top the list. Every recommendation carries its practical details: typical costs, the best time to visit, and what to know before you commit.

Argentina captivates with dramatic landscapes from Patagonian glaciers to thundering Iguazú Falls, vibrant tango culture in Buenos Aires, world-class wines in Mendoza, and passionate football fervor. This vast South American nation offers gauchos on the pampas, stunning Andean peaks, and cosmopolitan cities blending European elegance with Latin American warmth.

Top food tours

Guided experiences that show you Argentina through its food.

walking

Buenos Aires Parrilla and Wine Walk

3.5 hours$65

Evening walking tour through San Telmo and Palermo visiting three parrillas and a wine bar for tastings of Argentina's finest cuts alongside Malbec and Torrontés. Expert guide explains the art of the asado, beef grades, and Argentine wine culture.

Includes: Three authentic parrilla stops sampling prime Argentine cuts including costillar, vacío, and entraña · Four curated wine pours — Torrontés, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and late-harvest — matched to the food · Expert guide explains Argentine beef grades, fire technique, and Andean wine culture · Compact 2 km route through San Telmo's cobblestones and Palermo's tree-lined streets · Small group of 8–12 ensures personalized pace and time for questions at each stop

market

San Telmo Market Food Experience

2.5 hours$45

Morning tour through the historic San Telmo covered market and surrounding streets sampling empanadas, medialunas, artisan cheese, charcuterie, and dulce de leche with a guide explaining the colonial history of Buenos Aires' oldest neighborhood.

Includes: Guided tastings inside the historic 1897 Mercado de San Telmo, one of Buenos Aires' most atmospheric covered markets · Sample Argentine staples: medialunas, empanadas, artisan cheese, charcuterie, and dulce de leche · Hands-on empanada-folding demonstration including the traditional repulgue technique · Small group (max 12) with bilingual guide explaining the colonial history of San Telmo · Recipe booklet included for replicating Argentine baked goods and empanada fillings at home

street_food

Buenos Aires Street Food Night Tour

3 hours$55

After-dark tour through the Abasto and Balvanera neighborhoods visiting late-night pizza spots, chori stands, heladerías, and traditional bodegones sampling the foods Porteños eat between midnight and 3 AM on a typical Buenos Aires night.

Includes: Late-night tour departing around 10 PM to experience how Buenos Aires eats after dark · Classic Buenos Aires pizza stops — fugazza and fainá — at historic neighborhood parlors in Abasto and Balvanera · Choripán tasting at a working street stand with explanation of the chimichurri and salsa criolla tradition · Argentine-style helado at a neighborhood ice cream parlor featuring dulce de leche and fruit flavors · Bodegón visit for house wine and picada in a traditional Buenos Aires tavern

specialty

Mendoza Wine and Food Pairing Tour

5 hours$120

Guided tour visiting two Luján de Cuyo bodegas with cellar tours, blending workshops, and gourmet lunches pairing regional dishes like locro, asado, and empanadas with estate Malbec, Cabernet, and Torrontés wines.

Includes: Cellar tours at two Luján de Cuyo bodegas with access to barrel rooms and fermentation facilities · Blending workshop at one estate — assemble and evaluate a personal Malbec from different plot components · Gourmet two-course lunch pairing locro, asado, and empanadas with six estate wines · Six wine pours including Torrontés, Malbec blends, and a reserve Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon · Inter-bodega transport included — no rental car required to reach the Luján de Cuyo estates

walking

Palermo Soho Brunch Crawl

2.5 hours$50

Late morning tour through Buenos Aires' trendiest neighborhood sampling the café culture: medialunas, facturas, specialty coffee, and Argentine-style brunches at three of Palermo's beloved neighborhood spots.

Includes: Three-stop tasting route through Palermo Soho's best neighborhood cafés and brunch spots · Classic Argentine pastry tasting — medialunas, facturas, and dulce de leche at a traditional confitería · Specialty coffee culture segment explaining the Buenos Aires single-origin wave since 2012 · Contemporary Argentine brunch at a Palermo favorite popular with local architects and creatives · Small group of 10–12 with a relaxed pace and free time at each stop

specialty

Salta Regional Cuisine Tour

4 hours$75

Afternoon food tour through Salta exploring the distinctive cuisine of northwest Argentina with tastings of humitas, tamales, locro stew, empanadas salteñas, and chicha corn beer at traditional restaurants and markets in the colonial city center.

Includes: Tastings of humitas, tamales, locro, and empanadas salteñas — the foundational dishes of northwest Argentine cuisine · Chicha tasting — traditional corn beer fermented according to indigenous Andean methods · Cooking demonstration including empanada-folding and locro preparation techniques · Market visit to the Mercado Municipal showing the raw spices and Andean ingredients of the Salteño larder · Expert guide explains the Diaguita and Quechua culinary heritage behind Salta's distinct food culture

Tour formats

Different ways to experience Argentina's food scene.

Format

Street food tours

Buenos Aires street food includes the classic choripán sausage sandwich at parrilla stands, empanadas from corner bakeries, medialunas from confiterías, and late-night pizza slices eaten standing at traditional counter restaurants

Format

Market tours

San Telmo Market (Mercado de San Telmo) and Mercado de las Pulgas are the prime food market experiences. Sunday Feria de Mataderos showcases regional Argentine foods from all provinces

Format

Restaurant tours

Multi-restaurant tours visiting Buenos Aires parrillas, bodegones, and pasta restaurants showcase the Italian-Argentine fusion cuisine that defines the city's culinary identity

Format

Specialty tours

Mendoza wine tours, Salta regional cuisine experiences, and Patagonian lamb asado events offer specialized food cultures unique to their regions

Cooking classes

Take a piece of Argentina home with you.

Class

Asado Masters Cooking Class

4 hours$90

Learn the art of the Argentine asado (barbecue) from a professional parrillero in a Buenos Aires backyard setting. The class covers fire-building with quebracho wood, beef cut selection, cooking times for different cuts, and chimichurri preparation.

Class

Buenos Aires Home Cooking Class

3 hours$70

Home-based cooking class in a Buenos Aires apartment making empanadas from scratch with regional fillings, fresh pasta reflecting Argentine-Italian heritage, and dulce de leche desserts with a resident cook in Palermo or San Telmo.

Class

Catena Zapata Blending Experience

2 hours$80

Led by a Catena Zapata enologist, this intimate Mendoza workshop involves smelling and tasting wine components, blending your own Malbec blend from different terroir plots, and bottling a personalized bottle to take home.

Class

Cocina Andina Traditional Cooking Class

4 hours$65

Salta-based cooking class using traditional clay pots and cooking methods to prepare humitas, locro stew, and empanadas salteñas using the indigenous recipes and ingredients that define this distinctive culinary heritage.

DIY self-guided food tour

Self-guided Buenos Aires food crawl through Palermo and San Telmo covering the essential Argentine food experiences in a single afternoon and evening

  1. 1

    Stop 1: El Federal confitería (Carlos Calvo 599, San Telmo) for medialunas and café cortado - order at the bar like locals

  2. 2

    Stop 2: Mercado de San Telmo (Carlos Calvo 455) for empanadas and artisan cheese tastings from market vendors

  3. 3

    Stop 3: Freddo Helados (Palermo branch) for a scoop of dulce de leche or crema americana ice cream

  4. 4

    Stop 4: El Preferido de Palermo (Jorge Luis Borges 2108) for a glass of Malbec and provoleta (grilled cheese appetizer)

  5. 5

    Stop 5: La Cabrera (Cabrera 5127, Palermo) for a proper parrilla dinner with bife de chorizo and side dishes - arrive at 7:30 PM to get a table without waiting

Foodie tips

Get more out of every meal.

Tip

Argentines eat dinner very late - restaurants in Buenos Aires don't fill up until 9-10 PM and kitchens stay open past midnight on weekends

Tip

The Argentine beef grading system ranks meat from Novillo (young steer, best quality) through different grades - ask waiters which cut is best that day

Tip

Malbec is the flagship red wine but try Torrontés (white) from Salta - a uniquely Argentine grape variety with aromatic floral qualities

Tip

Empanadas vary dramatically by region: Salta empanadas are spicy and small, Buenos Aires versions are larger and milder, Tucumán empanadas use boiled potato

Tip

The proper way to eat choripán (chorizo sandwich) is standing at a parrilla street stand, not sitting at a table - this is street food culture

Tip

Look for the word 'artesanal' on ice cream shops - Argentina's gelato tradition is world-class and far superior to commercial brands

Tip

Asado involves complex protocol - the host (asador) has total control of the fire and grill. Never offer to help unless specifically asked

Tip

Mate is shared communally from a single gourd passed in a circle - don't say thank you (gracias) until you want to stop drinking

Tip

Medialunas (Argentine croissants) come in two styles: mantecas (buttery) and de grasa (flakier). The Buenos Aires version is sweeter than French croissants

Tip

Food portions in Argentine restaurants are enormous by European standards - sharing between two people is completely acceptable and normal